Goji Berries...fad or not...they're good..but get the real stuff..

Right..bet you are thinking why on earth a post on Goji Berries..? I heard a discussion on the radio earlier today on himalayan goji berries and it reminded me of my experience. Well, let me explain, the first time I ever heard of goji berries was just under a year ago, when a very dear person to me, was diagnosed with cancer and in attempt to help her through the surgery, treatment and recovery, we ventured at every avenue possible in an effort to make her strong to undergo the treatment but also to support her afterwards.

Health is so important that we forget how important it is until it starts deteriorating. Food is pivotal in maintaining good health and we all hear the usual discussions on taking a varied balanced diet, but how many of us actually do, and how many of us know of the enormous benefits of various fresh fruit and vegetables. Do we ever consider the benefits off minerals and vitamins found in the fruit and veg that are available to us? Now I am not asking that we go on a great big learning project or anything but, simply ‘fruit and veg have heaps of goodness’ and that bit of knowledge is more than enough.

So, anyway after some research on the internet, I went in search of goji berries and though not easily available, I did find a herbalist that stocked dried goji berries and then found that they also sold juice full of berries including our much wanted goji berries and so armed with goji berries, we enriched ourselves with all the goodness from the berries, ready to take on the gruelling treatment of cancer.

Now it wasn’t just the goji berries that helped, we completely changed our lifestyle and our shopping consisted of a lot more fruit and veg, some of which we had never thought of having before, though we knew about it, but was just never was part of our diet. But the goji berries was definitely new to us, which we embraced with grace.

Incidentally, these rather small, red, nutritionally rich berries are making its rise from specialist stockist to our regular supermarket, which is fantastic. We are told the goji contains heaps of vitamin C, beta-carotene and iron, are a good source B vitamins and anti-oxidants (just to name a few).

Finally, as with everything, there are those that claim all this hype over the goji berry is a fad. My advice is beware of knock of products and ensure you are buying the berries in its purest form, seek advice and indulge in moderation. There is no harm in trying with caution I say, and if its a benefit then a bonus to grab and at least it get us all eating more fruit. I sure will continue to sprinkle goji over my cereal!

Happy and Healthy Eating -:)

Aisha